This is an interesting and broadly-written book for anyone interested in the what-and-how of religious services in the various Eastern Orthodox churches – Armenian, Byzantine, Coptic, Ethiopian, Syrian, and Maronite traditions.
This densely-written academic text dives into intricate and comparative detail of many aspects of church services for each of these traditions – including historical developments of each tradition.
In this book, the reader learns:
- In the early Syrian rite, baptism was viewed as “rebirth to something new” rather than the western view of baptism being our “death, rebirth, and rising with Christ” (pages 21-22).
- I was surprised to discover that in the early centuries of the Syrian Orthodox tradition, the Syrians considered the Holy Spirit to be “Mother Holy Spirit” – complete with references in liturgical prayers about the Holy Spirit acting as the “womb” of people’s faith (page 23).
This book is worth reading.
Kim Burkhardt blogs at A Parish Catechist (and is a member of the Association of Catholic Publishers). Blogging is sustainable via blog readership (i.e. readers/subscribers). If you are a new visitor, it would be great to have you subscribe to follow this blog (thank you!). If you know someone who would like this blog, please share it with them and invite them to subscribe (thank you!).
